Our Enhanced Clinical Practitioner Apprenticeship develops practitioners with the knowledge, skills and behaviours to provide a high standard of complex care for patients, using enhanced levels of clinical judgement.
The apprenticeship delivers high-quality staff development with reliable funding for local NHS Trusts and healthcare organisations, supporting the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan 2023 and providing a clear development route for healthcare professionals.
Essential course information
| Qualifications |
Apprenticeship Certificate and a Postgraduate Certificate in one of three specialist pathways:
- PGCert Enhanced Clinical Practice
- PGCert Enhanced Clinical Practice (Clinical Education)
- PGCert Enhanced Clinical Practice (Paediatrics / Neonatal)
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| Duration |
18 months including end-point assessment
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| Delivery |
Day release
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| Entry requirements |
Potential Enhanced Clinical Practitioner Apprentices must meet the following entry criteria:
- Apprentices must hold current registration with one of the statutory regulators of health and care professions.
- Apprentices are normally expected to hold a relevant degree with an award of 2:2 or above (or have demonstrable equivalent experience).
- Apprentices usually have at least two years’ post-registration experience and need to have completed a period of preceptorship.
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| Apprenticeship eligibility criteria |
- Apprentices must be working in a job role that provides opportunities to learn the skills, knowledge, behaviours outlined in the Enhanced Clinical Practitioner Apprenticeship Standard.
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Have access to the agreed off-the-job training hours, during contracted working hours*.
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Work a minimum of 50% of their time in England.
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Be a UK/EU/EEA national or have lived and have had a right to work in the UK for 3 years or more.
English and maths requirements
- There is no mandatory requirement for apprentices age 19+ to complete Level 2 English and maths. However, apprentices or employers may opt-in for the apprentice to study towards an English and maths qualification where they don't already have an equivalent qualification, with funding available if they choose to do so.
- Apprentices who do not provide a suitable Level 2 English certificate, and do not hold an appropriate English language equivalent qualification, will also need to provide an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) result that is dated within the last two years. The minimum requirement for this programme is an overall score of 6.0, with no less than a 5.5 in each of the individual elements. The university’s policy around this can be found here.
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| Start date |
January 2026 |
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| Application closing date |
October 2025 |
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| Programme fee |
£7,000
Programme fees can be covered by the Apprenticeship Levy or the employer who may be eligible for funding, apprentices do not pay programme fees. |
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| Department |
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences |
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Course overview
Who is the Enhanced Clinical Practitioner Apprenticeship for?
The Enhanced Clinical Practitioner Apprenticeship offers regional NHS Trusts and healthcare providers a reliably funded, fully supported route to develop existing staff or attract talented new employees.
The programme is for healthcare professionals who are working at or towards an enhanced level of practice with specific knowledge, skills and behaviours in a field of expertise.
Enhanced practice is reflective of the level of practice and is not attached to a particular job role; we therefore expect to welcome apprentices from a wide range of specialist areas. Specifically we have designed the programme for healthcare professionals registered with the:
- Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
- Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
- General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
To access this programme, apprentices must be employed in a job role that provides opportunities to learn the skills, knowledge and behaviours outlined in the Enhanced Clinical Practitioner Apprenticeship Standard. They must also work at least 50% of their time in England. We work with each apprentice to determine their level of existing skills and knowledge and build a learning plan to provide the support they require to meet the apprenticeship standard.
To discuss your employee's suitability for the programme please contact our employer engagement team.
Contact us
Programme Details
The university offers three specialist pathways within the Enhanced Clinical Practitioner Apprenticeship allowing apprentices to tailor their learning to niche specialist areas or develop through a general pathway.
Available pathways:
- General pathway
- Clinical Education pathway
- Neonatal / Paediatric pathway
Apprentices undertake two core modules, plus one chosen pathway module. The programme is typically delivered over 13 to 15 months, at which point successful apprentices will progress onto a gateway review and end-point assessment to complete their apprenticeship.
Upon completion of the apprenticeship, all apprentices must undertake the end-point assessment (EPA) which is a synoptic assessment of the knowledge, skills and behaviours that have been learnt throughout the apprenticeship. The purpose of the assessment is to ensure apprentices meet the standard set by employers and are occupationally competent.
Modules
Enhancing Clinical Practice (20 credits)
Core Module
Apprentices enhance and develop skills in patient assessment and improve professional practice to provide safe and effective person-centred care. They develop their knowledge of anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology and undertake the assimilation of information to inform patient assessment.
Enhanced Clinical Practice Portfolio (20 Credits)
Core Module
This module runs throughout the taught element of the programme and supports apprentices to develop a portfolio of evidence demonstrating their ability to practice at an enhanced level in their chosen specialty. Apprentices compile a portfolio of clinical and non-clinically focussed evidence, developed in practice, to demonstrate their progress towards achieving the associated knowledge, skills and behaviours required at an enhanced level of practice.
Pathway Modules
Each apprentice will choose one of the following pathway modules:
Decision Making and Clinical Reasoning (20 Credits)
General Pathway
This module has been developed to develop apprentices' knowledge of the theory of clinical decision making and clinical reasoning in an applied way. Apprentices develop the skills and knowledge to select appropriate investigations and analyse clinical findings through the application of clinical decision making and reasoning theory.
Enhancing Clinical Education (20 credits)
Clinical Education Pathway
Apprentices develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours to underpin their practice with the principles of respect, empathy, equality and diversity to foster a learning environment and provide a learning experience that is inclusive, supportive and safe.
They learn how to identify the training and education needs of colleagues in their area of practice, using available resources effectively to develop a business case to communicate this need. They are also able to reflect on their own experience to identify their ongoing learning needs to continually develop as an adaptable, reliable and competent practitioner.
Enhancing Paediatric and Neonatal Clinical Practice (20 credits)
Paediatric and Neonatal Pathway
This module aims to support apprentices in developing clinical reasoning and decision-making skills appropriate to levels 1, 2 and 3 high dependency/critical care of paediatric and neonatal populations.
This includes exploring legal and ethical issues in neonatal and/or paediatric critical care and enhancing leadership and teaching skills; and discussing underpinning research as part of developing and understanding the key evidence base for care, as a pre-requisite to enhancing clinical practice through developing clinical expertise
Gateway
Before apprentices can progress to the end-point assessment they must meet all the criteria needed to pass the Gateway Review:
- Evidence that they have developed the knowledge, skills and behaviours set out in the apprenticeship standard
- Passed the three modules within the chosen pathway
- Agreed a quality improvement proposal
- Completed a portfolio
End-point-assessment
The final part of the apprenticeship is the end-point assessment. This requires apprentices to demonstrate that their learning can be applied in the real world.
Apprentices will:
- submit a quality improvement proposal report with question-and-answer session
- undertake a professional discussion underpinned by portfolio of evidence.
Apprenticeship features
Skills Scan
As part of the application and enrolment process, we carry out an individual Skills Skan. This enables us to determine apprentice's existing levels of skill and knowledge and build a personal plan which will set out all the learning, tutorial support, and resources provided by the university.
Tripartite reviews
As part of our continued support for each apprentice and the degree apprenticeship, we offer tripartite reviews between the employer, apprentice and the university to formally assess progress in the academic programme and work-based learning.
Assessment
Apprentices are assessed through a mixture of exams, observed structured clinical examinations, written assignments, presentations and work-based assessments and portfolio. The degree apprenticeship also includes an end-point assessment, which requires apprentices to:
- Submit a quality improvement proposal report with question-and-answer session
- Undertake a professional discussion underpinned by portfolio of evidence
Support team
Each of our Degree Apprenticeship programmes are designed to include full support for the apprentice and their employer. We provide:
- an Account Manager to support and guide employers throughout the programme
- a Degree Apprenticeship Officer to support each apprentice throughout the programme
How to apply
Prior to application the university will qualify the eligibility and suitability of the employer, this involves a short training needs analysis discussion.
Once the employer has engaged with the university to initiate their side of the onboarding process, candidates will be invited to apply online.
Contact our employer engagement team